Fine Art Expo Returns To Long Beach This Weekend

LONG BEACH, NY — Long Beach’s local arts scene will be on full display Sunday, as the Long Beach Arts League and West End Arts team up for the fourth edition of the Long Beach Fine Arts Expo, where artists from on and around the barrier island display their wares.

This will be the fourth art expo, taking place at the Allegria Hotel Sunday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For Lissette Resnick, a compliance officer at UBS who doubles as the President of the Long Beach Art League, the art expos over the past couple of years have been a great chance to meet a community of creative-minded individuals who are all looking for a chance to showcase their work.

“So it's been really amazing because, in Long Beach, there are a lot of artists. And although we have the leagues and we have about almost 150 members, people are pretty much siloed — especially after the pandemic, during the pandemic — people weren't getting together, they weren't sharing their work, they weren't having the support system or the the social ambiance of being [around] fellow artists,” Resnick said. “And so that's picked up, and this provides an opportunity for Long Beach artists to come together, exhibit together, an opportunity for them to showcase their work — and hopefully sell, as well, which is something that has been missing.”

Resnick has been the president of the art league for three years, working primarily in oil paints while other artists at the expo display photography, watercolor, pottery, glass and more. For Resnick, the step into the Long Beach local art scene has been an opportunity to continue learning to do something she always wanted to.

“I always wanted to do art, you know, but I was raising a family and I have a career,” Resnick said. “Things got in the way, but when my oldest daughter was going to college, I said, ‘wow, she's going to come back in four years with a degree. What am I going to have in four years? Where am I going? And so I started taking classes after work in the city and on Long Island during the pandemic. And so that's how it all started.”

While membership in the arts league has grown, Resnick said the art expo isn’t the end of any road. The goal, Resnick said, is to continue growing the community around the arts, not only in Long Beach but across more of Nassau County.

“We have a long way to go, because there are so many more artists, and everyone's diverse as well, you know, and not everybody's being showcased,” Resnick said. “And there’s some crafts, which is great, some arts in the plaza as well, but the fine art, the elevated art, I think that's been missing.”

When asked how it feels to have carved out a space for that fine arts community, Resnick called it "rewarding."

“Being president of the league and being able to start this art expo, I think it's been very, very fulfilling, because a lot of the artists that we’re exhibiting aren't ‘professional,’ they haven't been exhibiting, in fairs or in shows,” Resnick said. “We're providing an opportunity, some guidance on how to do that and set up and talk to potential buyers. So it's very rewarding.”

There is no entry fee for the fine arts expo, Resnick said, and “everything is for sale.” The president of the art expo said there will be a multitude of artistic disciplines on display, and attendees are encouraged to walk in and try to buy some of the art.